Door and gate attachment



L. C. SMITH April 13 1926.

DOOR AND GATE ATTACHMENT I 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 192.5

ATTORNEY wn'usss: g 5

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 L c: ShAFTH noon AND GATE ATTACHMENT Filed'Marcfi 5, 1925 April 13 1926.

INVENTOR lmonfizv mm g wrrnsss; 1

April 13 @1926. 1,581,029

L. C. SMITH DOOR AND GATE ATTACHMENT Filed March 5, 1925 3 h t$-$heet 5 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

' UNITED STATES LEONIDAS C. SMITH, 0F POLK'IO'N, NORTH, CAROLINA.

DOOR AND GATE ATTACHMENT.

Application filed March 5, 1925 Serial .No. 13,324.

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, LEONIDAS 0. SMITH, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Polkton, in the county of Anson and State of North Carolina,have inventednew and a useful Improvements in Poor and Gate Attachments, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention relates to pivoted closures, such as gates, doors and the like, and is in the nature of an attachment designed to hold the closure either in a fully opened position,

or closed position, operating to return the closure to its closed position. if not fully opened, thus preventing the closure at any time occupying a half opened 'or-closed position. H

In" carrying out the invention it isr my purpose to employ the attachment with either single or double doors or: closures, the V attachment beingidesignedto be used with each door, so that either door-of a pair of doors can be independently controlled in the manner above stated.v

More specifically stated, it the invention comprehends the provision of a. pair of spaced pivoted arms susceptible of move- 'ment toward and away from each other, and i normally held closely related through the instrumentality of a resilient element, While carried by the saidclosureisa roller arranged to operate between said arms, so that lowing detailed description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings,

the invention residing in the construction,

combination and arrangement of parts as claimed. I a

In the drawings forming part of this a 4 plication, like numerals of reference in icatesimilar parts in the several views, and wherein: l V i 1 Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a pivoted closure, showing the arrangement ofthe attachment forming the subject matter of the present invention. a s

Figure 2' is a sectional view taken on line 22 oitFigure '1, showing the normal posiformed in the, adjacent gate tion of the parts by full lines, and the opened position'of the closure and said arms bydottedlinesL Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a gate post and keeper. v

Figure 41s a perspective viewot apair of rollers andtheir support, which are em-.

ployed as one embodiment of the invention; v Figure 5 is a front elevation showing the invention used with a pair of swinging doors, in contra-distinction to a single door or closure as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure ,6 isa] sectional view on line 6-6 of Figure 5.

' Figure 7 is a sectional view on l ine 7 -7 ofFlgure 5.;

I 'desire to have it understood thatthe gist of the present invention resides} in themeans Before entering into adetailed-descrip- 1 tion of whatris illustratedin the drawings,

employed for preventing a pivoted closure,

from 'at any time, occupying a half opened or a half closed position, independently of where the closurelis' used, or whether one or more of such doors orclosures are used 'toget-her. Inotherwords, where a pair of such 1 doors or the like are used, the invention is 'mere' ly duplicated, the same construction of means bemg used in connection with each closure.

In Figures 1 to i'inclusive, I have illustrated the invention with a single closure, which in this instance represents a gate, although it may be used with a door or the like. In thesefigures", 10 represents a pair of spaced standards forming part of a gate supporting structure, and which standards are connected by a transverse member 11. Mounted on this structure for swinging movement is the gate which is of thelordinary construction including the post i 12 which is pivoted in suitable bearings at the bottomand top of the'jgate supporting structure-as shown. The bearing for the lower end of the post is indicated, at 13, while the bearing for the upper end of the post is indicated at 14:. The gate isnormallyheld in its closed position by any suitablelatch fmechanism, but '1 preferably employ a latch bolt 15 which is mounted for sliding-movement through one of the standards 10 and adapted to be received by an opening 16 0st" as clearly shown in the drawings. The olt l5 isprovided with a collar 17 and a rin 18, the

latter recelving the adjacent endoii a re's' ilient element 19 which is mounted upon the adjacent standard 10 of the supporting structure. The element 19 is preferably in the nature of a coiled spring which is tensioned to normally hold the bolt 15 inits active position. Projecting from the standa-rd 10 with which the bolt is associated, is

i i-this lug is a substantially U-shaped element 21, the'parallel limbs 22 of which are of suflicient length to permit anyone to move the u shaped member pivotally Rising from-the intermediate portion of the U- shaped member is a yoke 23 which embraces the bolt'15 between thecollar 17 and the ring 18, so that when-the U-shaped member is tilted, the bolt 15 is retracted torelease the gate, so that it may be opened. Furthermore, the gate can be opened from either side of the supporting structure, that is to say the gate can be swunginwardly or outwardly to "an opened pos1tion'. 1

Theattachment a ove referred to includes a pair'o'f spaced arms 24 which have their corresponding ends pivoted beneath a block 25 secured to the underside ofthe cross member 11.0.f the supporting structure. These arms are normally heldparallel, and are of a length topassbeyond the'gatefl post 12 and theadjacentstandard 10. As shown in Figure 2, the free ends ofthe .arms 24' are reduced tojallow the arms to move close to ward the standard- 10 inthe normal position of, the parts. Thesearms are infiuenced by a coiled spring 26 which is arranged transversely ofthe'a'rms and terminally connected thereto in fany suitable manner as shown.

. varied infconstruction, and use made ofa. jsmglerroller, lnstead of ,a pair of rollers The spring serves to hold the arnis'normally in the position illustrated by full lines in ,Figure 2. r

The gate post 12 projects an appreciable distance above the top of the gate,;a nd is slightl I reduced to accommodate the other part 0 the attachmentclearly shown in Figure 5. This part of the attachment maybe without departing from the spirit of the invention. However, as is specifically illus- 'trated, this partof the attachment includes apair of spaced plates 27 which are arranged in superimposed relation, the plates having aligned openings 28 to receive thereduced end portionfof the gate post Depending from the'lowermost plate} 27 are spaced apertured lugs 29 by means of which the attachment is secured to the gateflpost.

Journ alled between the platesi27 is a'pair of' spac'edjrollers 30 which are arrangedbetween the arms 24, always contacting said arms, andcooperating therewith to prevent the gate from assuming a half opened or half closedposition. In other words, when the gateisvopened, if it is swungjto a fully opened position or past center, the rollers 30 occupy the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 2, wherein it' will be noted that the arms 24 under the tension of the spring 26, engage the roll'ers'in the manner to hold the gate in said position. However, if the gate is only partly opened, just as soon as the gate is releascd, the arms 24 under the a pair of apertured lugs 20, and journalled influence ofthe spring 26 automatically 1'oturns the gate to its closed position. Consequently, by reason of the attachment, the gatemust either occupy one of two positions, that is afu'lly open-ed positionor a closed position.

In Figures 5 to 7 inclusive, I have shown 1 the invention used with a pair of pivoted doors indicated at 31 and 32respectively. The doors are mounted for swinging movement in the door frame, substantiallyv the same as the gate above described, each door including a pivot 33 journalled in suitable bearings 34 at the top and bottom of the door frame. Secured beneath thetop portion of the door fframe is a block 35upon which is' pivotedthe spaced pairs of arms, the arms of each pair being indicated at 36. These arms are pivoted as at 37, and it will be noted upon inspection of F igure 6 that one pair ofthese arms is used in connection with each door, and that the respective pairs of arms projecting from theblock 35 in opposite directions. vThe arms of each pair are connected together by'altransversel disposed spring 38 whiclr'normally hol s the arms parallel and closely related." These arms may be of any suitable cross sectional configuratlon', but are designed to cooperate with a roller 39Icarried by'each door and arranged to operate between the adjacent pair, of a'rmsr Eaclrroller 39 is journalled on a bracket 40 :WhiCh is supported upon the pivot 33 for'the adjacent door, projecting at a rightlanglejtherefrom as clearly'lshown. In this connection it might be stated, that a singleroller mounted in this manner canbe fused with" the construction shownin Figures 1 to 4, 'orthat thedouble rollers shownin Figure 4 may be used with the double doors,

without departing from the spirit of the in- ,1

vention, as the operation in each instance is exactly the same. However by employing a single, roller, in contra-distinction Q to the structure shown in igure 4,'the gate or door is allowed to be arranged closer, to the ad- 'jacent standardor side of the door frame as the case maybe. just stated, the invention when used in connection with double doors operates m'the same manner-as-here-in above described with the structures shown in Figures 1 ,to 4, inasmuch as, each door shownin Figure 5 can becontrolled by the attachment to f prevent it from remaining half opened, independently of the, other Figure 15is primarily intended; for use" with the "garage "doors, and it is particularly addoor However, the invention as shown'in same purpose.

enter the garage without leaving his car to.

open the doors, and without fully opening the doors by the machine, so that the said doors will automatically return to their closed positions. The doors may be leftunlatched in the day time, so that the owner of car may drive into the garage without leaving his machine to open the doors when desired. Inasmuch as the doors are mounted to swing in either direction, they cannot be injured if so moved by strong winds or the like while unlatched.

In View of these facts, I provide each door with a series of spaced parallel rollers each of which is covered with rubber or other soft material, so that the doors of the garage may be opened in the manner above stated without scratching or otherwise injuring the vehicle. These rollers are arranged vertically on the opposite sides of each door and indicated at 41, while journalled on the meeting edges of the respective doors are similar rollers 42 which are also covered with rubber or other soft material for the The meeting edge of each door is slightly cut away to accommodate the adjacent roller 42, and it might here be stated that all of the above mentioned rollers may be made in any desiredsize for the purpose for which they are intended. Furthermore the rollers are located on said doors so that when it is desired to enter or leave the garage, the front or rear bumper of the machine initially contacts said rollers, moving the doors in the proper-direction to open the same. As the machine passes through the door opening, the rollers glide along the fenders and running boards ofthe machine, and in this way the doors are opened to allow the car to pass without damaging the same.

In the invention shown in Figures 5 to 7 inclusive, I provide a combined day latch and lock for said doors, which includes a sliding bolt 43 which is arranged vertically on the door 31, and adapted to be projected beneath the lower edges thereof to be re-,

offset apertured terminal 48 adapted to be arranged in confronting relation to the off set apertured extremity 49 of a keeper 50 secured to the door. 32. When it is desired to lock the doors, the parts are arranged in the manner just described, and a suitable pad-' lock 51'utilized to connect the arm 47 and the keeper 50.1 The arm 47 however, is so mounted with relation to the lug 46 carried by the locking bolt 43, that when the arm is swung to its active position it engages said lug 46, and depresses the bolt 43 into its active association with the keeper 44 against the tension of the spring 45, By reason of this construction, it is manifest that whenthe arm 47 is released, from the lock 51 or the pivoted lever 52, the said arm is automatically swung to an inactive position under the influence of the spring 45, which at the same time elevates the bolt 43. The lever 52 is pivoted upon'the door 32 immediately above the keeper 50, and is formed with an offset extremity 53, which is adapted to engage the keeper and the oil'- set extremity 48 of the arm 47 when the parts are arranged in the manner shown in Figure 5. Consequently this lever 52 is employed to hold the bolt 43 in its active position without the use of a padlock 52, and forms part of the day latch above referred to. Manifestly, by swinging the lever 52 to a horizontal or inactive position, the arm 47 is released so that it may be swung to an inactive position in the manner above described. 2

While it is believed that from the foregoing description, the nature and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent, ,I desire to have it understood that I do not limit myself to what is herein shown and described, and that such changes may be resorted to when desired as fall within the scope of what is claimed.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

The combination with a pivoted closure, of means for holding the same fully opened, or returning it from a partly o ened to a closed position, said means inclu ing a pair of pivoted arms arranged horizontally above the closure, resilient means connecting said arms and normally holding the latter parallel, a bracket including spaced superim posed plates of elliptical contour, and having alined square openings centrally there of to accommodate the pivotof said closure, depending lugs projecting from the lowermost plate and adapted to be secured to said pivot, and rollers journaled between said plates and projecting beyond the ends thereof, and arranged to operate between said arms for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LEONIDAS 0. SMITH. 

